Zandrae Pyreanor
Physical Description Zandrae is a male Sin'dorei paladin of the freckled and ginger type with carelessly combed back coppery red hair, red-lensed goggles, and a goofy grin on his face indescribable as anything other than "stupid." He towers... over children at whopping 5'8", shorter than the average Sin'dorei but not necessarily puny. More often than not, other Sin'dorei literally look down on him during conversations. He is beginning to show signs of age; he does not look like a young twenty-something Adonis of an elf, instead looking to be biologically closer to his mid to late thirties, the faintest trace of laugh lines and frown lines around his mouth. While his body is older, his heart is not, and he often faces the world with youthful enthusiasm and that stupid smile on his face. His physique is remarkably unremarkable; Zan is just a guy with freckles and goggles. It is rare to see Zan without his ridiculous goggles, which seem almost permanently affixed to his round spotted face. His nose is slightly upturned and his lips are slightly bow shaped giving him a natural grin even when he is not actually smiling. His mouth is a little larger than average and sometimes seems a bit disproportional to the rest of him (eat your heart out Steven Tyler). He has strong cheekbones, a not so strong jawline, freckles occur at an increased frequency across his cheeks, and the incredibly attentive might notice his lower lip sticks out slightly more than his upper lip does. On the rare occasion that he lifts his gold framed and red-lensed goggles up onto his forehead or across the top of his head like a woman's headband, one might notice that his almond shaped green eyes are slightly wider set than average, giving him a mildly youthful look. Very few ever get to see Zan's face without his goggles obscuring his eyes. Some joke that he even wears them to bed. He tends to wear armor that tinted in shades of gold, red, black, brown, and white. When not in armor he wears a nice pair of slacks, a burgundy vest, or a green vest over a fancy white shirt or a plain green shirt. It is by no coincidence that people rarely see anything more of Zan's skin than his hands, neck, and face. He chooses to remain mostly covered even in scorching heat and desert sun. Personality Zandrae's personality is that of a man of many masks, almost a trickster of sorts. He feigns a sort of incompetence, appearing as a grinning fool with impulse control problems. Zan will blurt out innuendo; things that make him look stupid to both his allies and his enemies. The theory behind this is that if everyone doubts him and underestimates his abilities, including his colleagues (because mind reading is a thing), then no one will expect him when he removes his figurative mask and stops feigning stupidity. He frequently wears his heart on his sleeve for all to see, cracking jokes, acting as if he has little impulse control and if he is not the wisest of his kind. It's not uncommon for most folks to quickly realize that Zan isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but the truly observant may realize he's is sharper than he lets on. Zan reserves mask removal for dire situations, though sometimes he will fumble around and do something competent under the guise of dumb luck or underestimating his own strength or abilities. When he does actually get serious, he quickly returns to idiot mode. He tries to avoid talking about or acknowledging anything that he did while serious, as if he is attempting to paint it as having a separate personality taking over that he has no recollection of, and that, too, is a lie. Zan is both clever and willful with almost unshakable faith. He is also incredibly stubborn. This is a dangerous combination as the one's ability to use the Light is based on faith and willpower. Zan's cheerful facade, too, is a mask which conceals an inner darkness, haunting feelings of inadequacy and lack of attention from his childhood and severe depression plague him. He cannot be seen in the state of weakness in fear of bringing down others, like his family and friends. He is a sad, sad clown. History Before the Fall Zandrae Pyreanor was born the middle son to a pair of particularly busy parents, one of six childrenThe number of children Zan's parents had was determined by a dice roll., the middle boy. His mother was a Farstrider of moderate rank and his father was an accomplished priest with a fondness for human names. In his youth, Zan was the black sheep of his family, struggling to find his proper path in life. While his siblings easily found their callings, Zan struggled. Frequently called a "late bloomer," his magic abilities seemed non-existent, and he was neither strong enough for armor, dexterous enough for weaponry, and was too clumsy for sneaking. He tells a tale of once firing off a bow and somehow managing to shoot himself in the foot. For this to happen he had to have shot it into the air above him and had it come back down. It is unclear as to if this is simply a tall tale or if he had that epic of a fail. Considered largely unfit for any sort of special role, he resigned to the job of an ambitionless shop boy. He spent much of his life before the fall of Quel'thalas in his family's shop where he learned practical crafting, design skills, improved his hand-eye coordination, did customer service, and learned business skills. What kind of hero balances a mean checkbook? The Fall of Quel'thalas When Quel'thalas fell, Zan survived by luck and pure cowardice. He noticed commotion from his little stool in the shop, seeing zombies and such outside he hurriedly shut the front door to the shop, locked it from the inside, and then locked himself in the large walk-in safe storage closet that the jewelry stock went into. By luck alone, the Scourge onslaught did not completely level the Pyreanor residence, instead leaving it damaged and the safe-closet untouched. Zan's elder and youngest sister survived the attacks on Quel'thalas by running after one was badly injured. They returned home, via rooftop and balcony, with a priest they had found during their flight and found the door locked from the inside. The sisters searched the home and, much to their dismay, found their useless brother and let him out of the closet. Rather than abandon their useless liability of a brother, they gave him a job to care for and protect the priest they brought home as it was unclear how many elves that could heal actually remained. In time, this bodyguard relationship turned into an awkward unrequited love, which eventually became a requited love. Zan's sisters, his priest, Zan, and a couple other survivors his sisters collected made up a small group of survivors that made a flight from the scourge and hid in a favorite childhood hiding spot far from the path of the scourge. Eventually they reunited with other survivors, including relatives of the priest, started work on helping rebuild. The handful of non-family survivors with Zan's sisters' entourage were from The Blackened Woods--Ghostlands--an area wiped out and devastated by the scourge so severely that they had no place to return to, so they remained with the Pyreanor family. The priest's cousins ran off and died in service to the Argent Dawn. Zan's sisters and most of the other survivors, including his priest, went with Kael'thas to assist Dalaran only to wind up Garithos'd. They eventually returned when Rommath returned with M'uru. Zan took in an ill ranger during this time who also remains to this day. The Blood Knights Upon hearing from his uncle about the Blood Knights and how they were using the Naaru to give people the light, Zan sought to become one. While the order rejected him quickly due to his lack of credentials, his uncle, a very early generation Blood Knight, managed to pull strings enough to get Zan in. With some of M'uru's light, Zan found he was able to heal just like his beloved priest, and this gave him an actual purpose and hope--a new outlook on life and changed his personality for the better. No longer an under confident shop boy weighed down by going nowhere, his deep frowns became smiles and laughter. These Days Zan remained active with the Order through the retaking of the Sunwell and beyond but eventually went to reserve status with the order so he could assist the Argents in the Siege of Icecrown Citadel and never returned to active duty. He remains a reserve Champion, helping out in times of crisis and mentoring other Knights, but seems largely uninterested in the ranks and politics of the order. These days Zan is the head of his household, which consists of his family, the priest's family, several survivors that have remained with the Pyreanor family ever since the fall, and wayward youths and strays that the household has taken in. Zan is the proprietor of the family shop and his family converted their above-shop home into boarding home and also dabbles in other side activities. Zan received priestly and some monkly knowledge in a freak accident during the early days of the Legion invasion of Azeroth. Jayir Pyreanor had requested his mentor, who was ill at the time, give him memories of her priest training so her knowledge would not be lost should she perish against the Legion. She did so with Jay and her cousin and Zan sat in on the session and was caught in the information broadcast. The end result was a hilarious scene involving Zan wearing Tyan's clothing, Zan having priest knowledge like so many of his Blood Knight peers, and Zan having basic martial arts training. Quotes "Never underestimate me." References External Links *Zandrae on Battle.net *PriestZan on Battle.net *MonkZan on Battle.net *Extra PallyZan Battle.net Because sometimes I like to be in two places at once. Category:House Pyreanor Category:Characters Category:Horde Paladin Category:Paladin Category:Blood Knight Category:Blood Elf Category:Lightsworn Category:Lightsworn Brotherhood Category:Lightsworn Vanguard Category:2016